Journalists under physical assault in Egypt

New York, February 2, 2011--Supporters
of President Hosni Mubarakhave begun
violently attacking journalists reporting on the streets of Cairo today, a
shift in tactics from recent media censorship, the Committee to Protect
Journalists said. CPJ calls on the Egyptian military to provide protection for journalists.

"The Egyptian government is employing a strategy of eliminating witnesses to their actions," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "The government has resorted to blanket censorship, intimidation, and today a series of deliberate attacks on journalists carried out by pro-government mobs. The situation is frightening not only because our colleagues are suffering abuse but because when the press is kept from reporting, we lose an independent source of crucial information."

Ahmed Bajano, an Al-Arabiya
correspondent in Cairo, was beaten while covering a pro-Mubarak demonstration,
according to news reports. Bajano and his
camera crew were attacked in Mustafa Mahmoud Square by men in plainclothes. He
suffered a concussion and was taken to a nearby hospital. Another Al-Arabiya
journalist who spoke on the air via telephone but did not identify herself by
name also reported that she had been beaten by plainclothes police or
government-hired thugs. Al-Arabiya's Cairo office was attacked and its windows
broken, the satellite station reported. Another
network reporter said on the air that her colleague Ahmad Abdel Hadi was seized
by what appeared to be pro-Mubarak supporters near Tahrir Square, forced in a
car, and driven away. The reporter added that she has not been able to get
through to Abdel Hadi on his mobile phone since.

A group of men described as
"plainclothes police" attacked the headquarters of the independent daily Al-Shorouk in Cairo today, the paper reported. Reporter
Mohamed Khayal and photographer Magdi Ibrahim were injured. Ibrahim's camera
was smashed. The editorial team of another independent daily, Al-Masry al-Youm, decided to evacuate
its headquarters in downtown Cairo after hearing about the attack on Al-Shorouk, according to the paper's
website. The website also reported that army officers confiscated a press
card and a memory card from one of its reporters on the street today.

Men
in plainclothes surrounded the office of Sawsan Abu Hussein, deputy editor of the
EgyptianmagazineOctober after she called in to
a television program to report on violence against protesters, Abu Hussein said
on Al-Jazeera. The magazine's editor-in chief, Magdi al-Daqaq, a long time
Mubarak supporter, was with the men, Abu Hussein told Al-Jazeera's anchor on
the air.

Police
arrested four Israeli journalists for allegedly violating the curfew in Cairo
and for entering the country on tourist visas, according to news reports. Three of the
journalists reportedly work for Israel's Channel 2, while the fourth reports
for an unnamed Israel-based Arabic news website, according to news reports. But
Channel 2 told CPJ that the station does not employ the three journalists. The names
and correct affiliation of the arrested reporters remain unclear.

Belgian journalist Maurice Sarfatti, who writes under the
name Serge Dumont and works as a Middle East correspondent for the
Brussels-based Le Soir, Geneva-based Le Temps, and French newspaper La Voix du Nord, was beaten and
arrested today while he was on assignment in the Shubra neighborhood in central
Cairo, according a statement from Le Soir. Sarfatti sent
the following to Le Soir from his mobile phone: "It was violent. I received a stream of
blows to the face. They claimed that I was pro-Baradei. Then I was taken to a military
barracks on the outskirts of town." Mohamed ElBaradei is a prominent
opposition figure. He added, "I am under the care of 2 soldiers with
Kalashnikov rifles and bayonets. They say I'll
be taken to the secret services. They accuse me
of being a spy."

CNN's
Anderson Cooper and his crew were attacked by pro-Mubarak supporters in Tahrir
Square. "We were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters punching us in the head,
attacking my producer Marianne Fox and my cameraman as well as trying to grab
his camera, trying to break his camera," Cooper said on the air. "They didn't want any pictures taken," he added.

Two unnamed
Associated Press correspondents were roughed up while covering a pro-Mubarak
gathering, AP reported.

Danish media reported that Danish senior
Middle East Correspondent Steffen Jensen was beaten today by pro-Mubarak
supporters with clubs while reporting live on the phone to Danish TV2 News from
Cairo. The attackers demanded his phone and passport. Jensen said he is
currently being held by soldiers in Tahrir Square. He said he does not know if
the soldiers are holding him for safety reasons or if he is being officially
detained. He has no serious injuries.

The BBC reported that its correspondent
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes' car was forced off the road in Cairo "by a group of
angry men." He has detained by the men, who handed him off to secret police
agents who handcuffed and blindfolded him and an unnamed colleague and took
them to an interrogation room. They were released after three hours.

Jon Bjorgvinsson, a correspondent for
RUV, Iceland's national broadcaster, but on assignment for Swiss television in
Cairo, was attacked on Tuesday as he and a crew were filming. The journalist
and his team were apparently accused of being foreign spies, according to
Icelandic news website Ice News. Bjorgvinsson
was "knocked to the ground, his camera was broken, and his clothes were
ripped." Ice News reported that, according to RUV, police arrested the television
station's other cameraman, which the site did not name.

Al-Jazeera continues to face pressure
from the government-owned Nilesat satellite provider. The network reported that
it will take legal actions against Nilesat's
management and that the station will demand compensation for the blockage of
its signal. The Qatar-based station also reported that Jordanian
Media City, a private media hub, informed
Al-Jazeera that it is facing pressure from Nilesat management to remove the
station from the media bundle it provides to viewers.